Google beats class action sex bias claims, for now (MSFT, QCOM)

Dec 6 (Reuters) - A California state judge has dismissed
class action claims accusing Alphabet Inc's Google of
paying female employees less than men and giving them fewer
opportunities for promotions.

Superior Court Judge Mary Wiss in San Francisco said on
Monday the lawsuit was inappropriate because it was brought on
behalf of all women who worked for Google in California. She
gave the plaintiffs 30 days to file a new complaint on behalf of
only those women who faced pay discrimination.

The decision comes as Google faces an investigation by the
U.S. Department of Labor into sex bias in its pay practices.

Google spokesman Gina Scigliano said the company works "to
create a great workplace for everyone."

"If we ever see individual discrepancies or problems, we
work to fix them," she said on Wednesday.

James Finberg, a lawyer for the three women who sued Google
in September, said he intended to file a new complaint by early
January that "makes clear that Google violates the California
Equal Pay Act ... by paying women less than men for
substantially equal work in nearly every job classification."

The lawsuit appeared to be the first to make sex bias claims
against Google on behalf of a class of women, but was only the
latest instance of a major tech company being accused of
discriminating against women.

The Department of Labor sued Oracle America Inc in January,
claiming it paid white men more than women and minorities with
similar jobs.

Microsoft Corp and Twitter Inc are facing
sex bias lawsuits, and Qualcomm Inc last year settled
claims for $19.5 million.

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit against Google are a former
software engineer, a former communications specialist and a
former manager who worked in various roles at the Mountain View,
California-based company.

They say in the lawsuit that Google pays women in California
less than men who perform similar work, and assigns female
workers jobs that are less likely to lead to promotions, in
violation of state laws.

Google has denied the claims and says its employment
decisions are made by hiring and promotion committees and are
vetted to ensure there is no bias.

On Monday, Wiss said the plaintiffs' claims were vague, and
that they must show how specific groups of women were affected
by Google's pay policies.

The judge also said that two of the three named plaintiffs
had not shown that they performed comparable work to men who
were allegedly paid more.

The case is Ellis v. Google, California Superior Court, San
Francisco County, No. CGC-17-561299.
(Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York, Editing by
Alexia Garamfalvi and Susan Thomas)